A Kroger store combining groceries and general merchandise is nearing completion in Frisco and the chain is turning its attention next to Tarrant County’s Alliance Town Center.
Kroger Marketplace, a 123,000-square-foot concept store, is scheduled to open in January at the northwest corner of Eldorado Parkway and Custer Road in Frisco.
The company said Tuesday it’s planning a second area location for late next year in the north Fort Worth shopping center being jointly developed by Dallas-based Hillwood and Fort Worth-based Trademark.
Kroger recently opened a Marketplace store in Houston and has a second one in the works there.
The bigger stores are Kroger’s answer to the competition traditional supermarkets face from Wal-Mart Supercenters and SuperTarget stores. They also introduce Kroger’s jewelry brand, Fred Meyer Jeweler, to Texas.
Kroger’s Dallas-Fort Worth market share of 15.7 percent ranks second behind Wal-Mart’s 39.8 percent share, according to Trade Dimensions quarterly data. Target is in the process of upgrading its discount stores in the area to include fresh foods.
Photography Photo store Kroger is also No. 2 in Houston, behind Wal-Mart, but the gap there is narrower.
In addition to expanded grocery, deli, floral, organic, gourmet and chef-prepared foods, the store will have a wine shop.
Its general merchandise categories are bed, bath, kitchen, tabletop and an Ashley-branded furniture department. The stores are twice the size of a Kroger Signature store and have fuel centers in the parking lot and drive-through pharmacies.
The 300-acre Alliance Town Center is located along the east side of Interstate 35W between North Tarrant and Heritage Trace parkways.
J.C. Penney was the first retailer to open in the shopping center in 2005 and since then several stores have been added, including Sam Moon Trading Co., Belk, Best Buy and Hobby Lobby. Other stores under construction are Rooms To Go, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, Freebirds World Burrito and Kirkland’s.
The center is surrounded by new housing developments and is near Alliance Global Logistics Hub.
In Frisco, the Kroger store is on the city’s eastern border with McKinney. Kroger owns the property and no other tenants are part of the project.